Niger has submitted its request to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), nine months after announcing its intent to leave.

Niger’s departure will make it the third country to leave the ICC after the Philippines and Burundi.

In September 2025, Niger, along with allies, Mali and Burkina Faso – which are all under military rule – issued a joint statement saying they would not recognise the ICC’s authority, calling it an “instrument of neo-colonialist repression”.

The court said it had received an “instrument of withdrawal” on June 18, according to a statement. Withdrawal takes effect one year after notification.

The ICC added that Niger must honour its obligations to the court until that date.

The ICC – based in The Hague in the Netherlands – was set up in 2002 to pursue cases of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression.

The court’s statement on Tuesday did not make any mention of Mali or Burkina Faso.

When announcing their withdrawal, the three Sahel states said they wanted to set up “indigenous mechanisms for the consolidation of peace and justice”.

Last year, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso also simultaneously withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), the regional bloc, and created the Confederation of Sahel States for the three nations.

Niger has formally left the International Criminal Court, accusing the judicial body in The Hague of selective justice.

The west African country submitted a letter to the United Nations on Monday, triggering the withdrawal process from the court’s foundational treaty, the Rome Statute.

“While the court had raised great hopes among peoples who cherish peace and justice, it has been misused and exploited,” the letter said.

A coup ousted Niger’s democratically elected government in 2023, since when a military junta has abandoned longtime partners and has formed new alliances instead, including with Russia, where President Vladimir Putin faces an arrest warrant by the ICC over the war in Ukraine.

Mali and Burkina Faso have undergone similar transformations.

The ICC expressed disappointment at the departure. “We regret any decision to depart from the collective effort to end impunity for the most serious international crimes,” the court said in a statement.

Its withdrawal will become effective 12 months after the receipt of the letter, but any crimes that occur before it officially leaves remain subject to the court’s jurisdiction.